Most everyone knows that the arrival of Johnny Depp in Milwaukee was an example of early success for Film Wisconsin, the public / private non-profit set up to boost film production in the state.

But the Buckley brothers' beach-focused, cheesecake-laden comedy "Jake's How-To" is a feature film that shows how the state's efforts can boost local filmmakers, too.

The brothers -- Whitefish Bay natives -- returned from Los Angeles to make the film here when it became apparent that Brew City would be a much better place to make the movie.

As writer and director Vincent Buckley and his brother (and the film's producer) Kyle, prepare to premiere the film Thursday at the Oriental Theater, we asked them about what sparked the idea for the film and how it was realized.

OMC: Tell us a bit about the movie came to be. Where did the idea come from?

Vincent Buckley: The story is inspired by beach volleyball players from Milwaukee's Bradford Beach. We started playing beach volleyball with them in our late teens, and found them amusing and often ridiculous. I wrote an 11-page comic script called "Jake's How-To" in a comic scripting class while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design when I was 19.

That summer we were planning on shooting a 13-page short film I'd written based on the comic to help raise funding for the feature. I became diabetic, preventing us from shooting it, but I did illustrate the comic -- which you can see at V85.deviantart.com -- when I got out of the hospital.

At a comic book convention in Toronto shortly after, I asked Kyle if he wanted to go to L.A. He quickly decided yes, not long before he would have started his sophomore year at MSOE. In March 2005 I began writing the feature screenplay, and in March 2007 we returned to Milwaukee and began pre-production. I was 21.

OMC: How was it realized? Was it hard to get it all together ... financing, cast, etc.?

Kyle Buckley: Time and pressure, that's how it was realized. Vince and I just went up to every person we knew, and eventually anyone who would listen, and humiliated ourselves asking for investments. Once we realized we could only raise so much -- 18 months into it -- we decided we couldn't shoot in L.A., where we were at the time. Once we knew we had to come home, the budget shrank seven-fold, and suddenly we could make it happen. It was incredibly difficult in pre-production, trying to get in under budget, but we pulled it off because all of our roots and connections are here.

Casting was difficult in a different way. It wasn't quite the test of persistence that raising the money was, and it wasn't like trying to control the chaos of shooting. It was more like staring into a dark void and going, "23 speaking roles?" So we did everything.

We put up hundreds of fliers around the city and in every college's drama department and union. That was highly ineffective. A bunch of actors came through connections, but most effective was the Internet. I believe the three leads ended up coming from ActorsAccess.com, a great site where a few other actors came from too, Craigslist.org, OneSourceTalent.com and a few others basically drove all of our talent, and all-things-considered, we ended up with a very impressive cast.

OMC: Did you face any difficulties filming in Milwaukee? Was it hard to find the the support and the resources you needed?

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2 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by Jamba Juice on Aug. 13, 2008 at 2:29 p.m. (report)

Yea...trashing the town that you are trying to make it in is not a very good idea....GOOD LUCK!!

Posted by tully on Aug. 13, 2008 at 10:26 a.m. (report)

VB: Milwaukee isn't a film town. Most here don't understand how the film business works. Not to mention there are not many talented people here. There are many talented people in this "film town". Your trailer enforces the fact that you are not one of them.